| Pointed Sticks | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Genres | Punk rock, Power pop, New Wave, Pop punk[1][2][3][4] |
| Years active | 1978–1981, 2006–present |
| Labels | Stiff Records, Sudden Death Records, Quintessence |
| Members | |
| Nick Jones Bill Napier-Hemy Gord Nicholl Tony Bardach Ian Tiles |
|
| Past members | |
| Colin Griffiths Robert Bruce Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery John Fereira Scott Watson |
|
Pointed Sticks are a Canadian punk rock/power pop band from Vancouver. Originally active from 1978 to 1981, they reunited to perform in 2006 and have remained together since then.
They were the first Canadian band signed to Stiff Records, although the label was going through financial problems and never released an album by the band.[3] The original band consisted of vocalist Nick Jones, guitarist Bill Napier-Hemy, bassist Tony Bardach and drummer Ian Tiles.Keyboard player Gord Nicholl joined soon after. Johnny Ferreira later joined on saxophone, Bardach was replaced by Scott Watson on bass, and Tiles was replaced by drummer Robert Bruce (from Active Dog), and later by Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery. The band released four singles before releasing their only full-length album, Perfect Youth in 1980.
The first compilation of their recordings was released in 1995 on Zulu Records. "Part Of The Noise", now out of print, included five songs from the "Perfect Youth" album as well as 45's and rarities. In 2005, the complete Perfect Youth album, with 4 bonus tracks, was reissued by Sudden Death Records, followed the next year by a compilation of singles, outtakes, and other rarities, entitled Waiting for the Real Thing also on Sudden Death. These two releases do not share/repeat any tracks. The original band members reunited in 2006 for a Japanese tour, and they continued to play sporadic concerts in Canada and the United States through 2010. In 2009 the band recorded an album of all new material,"Three Lefts Make A Right",which will be released Nov 1 on Northern Electric records. Advance reviews have been spectacular. The band returned to Japan in August 2010 with support from a re-united "Dishrags", their all girl contemporaries from the original Vancouver Punk scene. Pointed Sticks are set to participate in a Vancouver benefit concert for Japan earthquake relief May 12, 2011.[2][4] "Three Lefts Make a Right" was mixed by Vancouver's Mike Fraser.
The band gets its name from dialogue in a famous sketch by Monty Python,[5] "Self Defence Against Fresh Fruit," wherein Eric Idle repeatedly suggests that learning to defend against something like a pointed stick might be more useful than defending against fresh fruit.[6] They chose this name after discovering that their first six choices had all been taken. At the beginning of their career they were briefly known as "Ernie Dick and the Pointed Sticks". Ernie turned out to be a better librarian than a drummer.
The band are known for their fast melodic pop music and liberal use of harmony singing by all five members—also for unusual graphic images that acted as counterpoint to the music.